Mzukisi Qobo continues to provoke debate through his Business Day column. This one addresses the role of the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC) in South Africa economic and social policy-making. This corporatist institution combines big business, big labour, and big government in an institutionalised forum wherein they are supposed to thrash out compromises in the ‘national interest’ and move the policy process forward. Qobo adopts a sceptical perspective, arguing that the forum has outlived its usefulness and now essentially serves to entrench powerful interests at the expense of the many, for example consumers and the unemployed, and promotion of a real competitiveness agenda. NEDLAC is a unique feature of South African policy development, and the debate continues. His article drew a formal response from NEDLAC’s executive secretary.